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You know how we’re giving away 12,000 beta keys for a weekend of Star Wars: The Old Republic? (There are still a few left, although not many – you need to claim yours before Friday at midnight – go here for all the details.) (Well, not all the details, or there’d be no reason for this post.) We finally have a date for it. It’s the weekend after this one. Things kick off on the 25th Nov, and come to an end on the following Monday, 28th. So there you go.

The game is not origin exclusive. Origin exclusive is only the digital distribution(you can only buy a digital copy at origin, but boxed copies are being sold at many other retailers). Further, you do not need origin to download the game, even if you bought it there – you will download it through a launcher which itself you’ll get from the swtor site. The only thing you need origin for(assuming you bought the game there) is to supply you with the retail game key which you’ll need to register on the game’s website once the game launches on 20th dec(plus-minus grace period).

TLDR: The final game does not require origin in any way shape or form.

Although the TOR downloader/launcher is separate from the Origin client, do we have any basis for believing it to be fundamentally different in any material way, other than the content which it is delivering?

I can’t help wondering if people are celebrating not having to install it in its obvious form only to install exactly the same thing under a different skin. After all, I can’t imagine why they’d choose to develop a separate delivery system rather than expand on their existing one.

“The only thing you need origin for(assuming you bought the game there) is to supply you with the retail game key which you’ll need to register on the game’s website once the game launches on 20th dec(plus-minus grace period).”

Sooo… Origin actually has to install and give me a key?

I don’t want to install the piece of sh**e, ever. Even if it is only to get a key and instantly uninstall. Unless there is a solution that lets me register (preferably not of course, but i guess a minimum is req’d for a mmo), purchase, download, install, play, update and DLC (actually, DLC isnt important, since I will never pay for a DLC anyway) completely 100% without ever opening up a origin webpage or install a single bit of Origin code. I will not be going anywhere near this game if any part of Origin needs to get into my computer in any way, shape or form. Or indeed any other game that requires me to go anywhere near Origin.

EA, I dont care what you are using it for or not, the data you collect. That is a completely irrelevant and non-interesting question. Once data is collected from me, I assume the worst, always. No matter the company.

It is the collection itself I object to and I don’t trust your company. You lie, you falsify, and you use semantics instead of just being honest and admitting that you fucked up and overreached yourselves. The ONLY information EA *needs* is my email address. Gather *anything* beyond that and the trust level decreases. Hide data collection from me, or attempt to hide it from me, and ALL trust goes away for all future and I will never be your customer.

Bad news delivered honestly ALWAYS beats good news that is a lie.

Once trust is broken, you really can’t expect to be trusted until you make a gesture to show trust can be reestablished. Instead, EA continue with the PR-speech and their semantics bulls*** policies, instead of just saying “sorry, we messed up, here you have complete *technical info* (not marketing descriptions that are 100% useless) on all and any of the exact things Origin does locally and remotely;
– Before and after MD5 hashes of all files files opened or modified.
– Complete info on registry keys read/changed, and exactly what changes were done.
– Complete list of URLs/IPs connected to.
– Complete dump of all in- and outbound traffic generated by Origin.
– A sincere public apology and promise that they will never try to do surveillance on me ever again.

But, that would require a corporation actually taking responsibility for their actions, it is never gonna happen. EA, I used to love you, what happened to you? Remember back in the FIFA isometric days? It really feels like losing an old flame, but your dish has become too bitter for my taste.

I can’t claim to know what they’re doing at launch, but as of last weekend Origin was not required to play, register, or download any part of this game. Just like John said, all you need is an EA or SWTOR account (they’re the same thing). If you’re worried about data collection, though, I suggest you read the EULA carefully–it’s pretty common for beta testing programs to collect information on computer specs, since that’s one reason they’re letting you play in the first place.

Fair warning: the SWTOR site claims people who didn’t get to play this last weekend’s beta will be given preference for the coming weekend. So I’m out of luck there, although at level 16 I was just beginning to bump up against the stuff I find boring in every MMO.

The weekend before I have to sit the american law school entrance exam (lsat) :(
Already got the invite from previous beta participation but I should probably be studying and not playing a star wars mmo :((

I need a parallel life which I can live simultaneously, in which I devote myself entirely to games.

So, I was just in one of these last weekend and they were already buckling under the stress at the beginning of it. I guess they weren’t expecting ALL the testers to try logging in the moment it was available?

Otherwise my thoughts, in the vaguest possible terms: the game feels like an anaemic blend of WoW and KotOR. It’s sure to be huge.

Damn . You said “It’s the weekend after this one.” and title says “Beta weekend is next weekend” so for me next weekend “naturally” means 18th to 20th. I realize there’s difference between this weekend and next weekend but I have different tendencys.

Played it last weekend, not going to buy it. I am not a big fan of star wars or mmorpg’s (although I did sink way too much time in Eve, navyfield, etc.) so maybe that’s why I didn’t like it. In a strict sense, the “game” was bland, clunky and a bit tedious. Sure it has great voice acting, but the mechanics are lame (the drivable speeder was so fucked I had to try a few times just to make sure it wasn’t a one-off mistake “How do I insure a vehicle that explodes the second I get off”. Sabers,shooting and powers are shallow, crouching is so weird)

Reminded me of Champions Online graphics-wise and lack of seriousness(-wise?). Actually, the graphics remind me alot of Clone Wars animated series they had which was pretty cool, but the game fails to capture the same feel. I played the WoW beta back in the day and it looked and felt better than this it. I hate comparing things to WoW, especially since I haven’t played any official version of it (but I did see my friend’s lives get thoroughly fucked by it) but I feel that in 2011, comparing beta to beta, WoW started out better… I guess my main gripe with mmorpg’s is that your actions have little to no reaction. As far as I can tell, its all just rolls of dice with sprites.

I KNOW ITS JUST A BETA. I understand the argument, I was a bit pissed when people where crying about bf3 beta (and launch even) probably because I am a bf3 fanboy (I hate labels though).

The difference as far as I can tell is:

-Complaining about lack of features, things not working during a beta is questionable because these are things that will be addressed.
-Complaining about the design and feel of a beta is more relevant because the devs can implement features and fix bugs, but they are not going to revamp all of the graphics, change mechanics, etc.

You may dismiss my criticism because of a) I only “like” star wars, don’t ask me any trivia, I haven’t even seen (or remember) all of the movies. I find some of it cool, I know a few things but not enough interest for me to Wikipedia the shit out of it’s topics. b) I do not enjoy mmorpg’s (I have never paid to play an mmorpg) I found it hard to justify paying for an mmo (How I justified Eve Online and a premium Navyfield account, I’ll never know) and usually rightly so because I got tired rather quick (Silkroad Online, Knight Online).

I grabbed a key just because, hell, I felt like it’d be right to play the game in the interest of being an educated gamer. But I don’t see myself actually going through the 20+ gig download and forcing myself to actually play now that it’s come down to it. Can’t summon even the slightest interest in another quest-based, stand-and-mash-keys MMO. Especially not with all the other amazing games out there right now.

If anything I’m gonna pre-order Tribes: Ascend or something. Hope everyone who does play enjoys it, at least!

I want to encourage everyone to try it out. I’m not a fan of MMOs but I absolutely loved my beta weekend. I played SW:TOR for 14 hours straight. Every moment was fantastic and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The synchronized light saber combat animations are a welcome salvation to the typical boring two handed whack in the face animation players of the genre are accustomed to watching for hours on end. I cannot recommend it enough.